Primeval fic: A Christmas Nightmare - Part 2 - Secret Santa for Eriah211
Title: A Christmas Nightmare
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 2643 out of ~7270
Characters: James Lester, Godfrey Barrington-Smythe, The Minister (OC), Daphne Barrington-Smythe (OC), Henry Jones (OC) and plus one. (Past Lester/Ryan).
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: Secret Santa for Eriah211. Prompts: 1) Mayhem in a library, 2) “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” (Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), 3) "Oh no, not again." (actually a quote by Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy too), 4) “The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short and the pen is very sharp.” (Terry Pratchett quote). Not sure how many I’ve hit or side-swiped. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you enjoy this fic.
A/N 2: Thanks go to fredbassett for the beta, cheers m’dear. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Epilogue)
I hadn’t expected that response and, well, it opened up new options, so I merely quirked an eyebrow at him.
Henry nodded, the smile on his face telling me he’d drawn the conclusion I wanted. “You’re already stealing from the past, aren’t you?”
“James!” The minister’s voice was full of censor, except he wasn’t the one I wanted to convince.
“Oh, shut up!” I snarled at the idiot, partly because he should have known me better and partly because he really was getting on my nerves. “You really are a bloody fool, aren’t you?” I really hoped my plan worked, otherwise, from the look on Godfrey’s face, I’d be lucky to just be fired.
Henry, however, just chuckled. “So, James. Just think what we could do together. We could take anything we wanted.”
“Why would I need you for that?” I enquired blandly, curious to see Henry’s response.
Henry frowned, obviously not expecting that response. “From what I hear, most of your people are academics, I doubt they have good fences.”
I shrugged, it wouldn’t do to have Henry think the entire ARC was corrupt, rumours would have spread if it had been. Too many odd finds would have been ‘discovered’. No, I had to let him think it was small scale, only myself and a select few others involved, maybe only myself and Ryan. “I get by.”
Henry smiled. “I have contacts you don’t, James. Just think of all that’s out there, just waiting for someone to take it. Gold and diamonds. Anything we could want.” His face took on a rather disgusting leer before he continued, “And then there’s the hunting.
“Hunting?” I echoed, feeling somewhat queasy. I might not like the creatures, messy and smelly beasts that they were, but I would never advocate their slaughter. It was one of the things I actually agreed on with Cutter, not that I would ever tell him that.
Henry chuckled. “So, how about it, James? More money than you’d ever get whoring yourself to the government. More respect than this idiot gives you. Any man you could want as a lover...”
I swallowed hard at the reminder of Ryan, turning away from both other men, letting Henry think I was cracking. “Any...” My voice broke without any acting from me.
“Anyone,” Henry tempted, obviously scenting blood. “Even that dead lover of yours...”
My shoulders shook as I felt the pain of Ryan’s lost rip through my heart once more. I would have given anything to have Ryan beside me once more, but… For a man who claimed to know me, Henry knew nothing about me. For all that I clashed with Cutter, I did agree with him when it came to messing with time. Who knew what apocalypse might occur if one did?
“No, James.” The minister looked distraught, clearly believing I really would betray him for money and Ryan. Bloody fool for not trusting me in the first place… although considering he was a bloody awful actor, maybe it was for the best, after all.
“I thought I told you to shut up,” I snarled at him before turning back to Henry. “Why should I believe you?”
Henry glanced at the minister in contempt. “Why don’t we discuss this… business arrangement in private and I’ll tell you why.”
“James!”
“Sit down and shut up,” Henry pushed the minister into a chair. “Stay here if you want your son back.”
The minister paled and I couldn’t have him thinking I had betrayed him. Who knew what irrational action he might take and ruin my plan. “You always tell me I should discuss the situation and make a compromise, minister,” I reminded him, hoping he’d recall I had never once compromised any of my projects.
***
Even after my warning and cloaked promise to the minister, I knew I had only a limited window before he grew some and did something stupid. Not that I could act instantly, I would have to wait for the opportune moment before I could take Henry down and, hopefully alive, rescue John. Unfortunately, Henry was not a trusting man and he kept me in his line of sight at all times, I knew I would need a distraction and smiled to myself as I change course and led him into the library. My gaze darted around as I looked for weapons, I knew the chairs were too heavy and the sword on the wall was stuck solid. I really didn’t want to resort to throwing books at him, not only would Daphne be displeased, they really were valuable.
“Why are we here?” Henry asked suspiciously as he glanced around.
“Two reasons,” I informed him in an almost absentmindedly tone as I continued my perusal of the library. “One, it is less of an eyesore than any room except my bedroom and I’m not taking you there.”
“Good,” Henry muttered.
I almost snorted at the distaste in that one word. “You’re not my type, either,” I informed him in my most disdainful tone, curiously to see if he apologised or just brazened it out.
Henry shot me a look and then turned back to business, money obviously triumphed over anything else. “And the second?”
“Because it is the library.”
“And?” Henry prompted.
“With books,” I continued.
“And?”
Henry still didn’t see where I was going and I bit back a sigh at his ignorance, useful though it might turn out. Instead I ignored him and searched the shelves for a book which might serve to distract him. I smiled as I pulled out a copy of ‘The History of the World’ by Andrew Marr and held it out to him. “Here, take this.”
“Why would I want something written by some journo?”
I allowed my eyeballs to roll before allowing my snark free reign, being nice at this point would just set alarm bells off. “Because it is a good primer into historical eras and will help you… us,” I corrected myself as if I had misspoke, “decide what time period might be.. interesting to us. Ones we can investigate in more detail.” When he snorted at the thought of research, I added, “Where the gold and diamonds, as you put it, can be found...”
Henry frowned before grabbing the book roughly and sitting down. I fought the urge to wince at his handling of a book and the urge to act right now, knowing I needed him to relax his guard first. To that end I picked up the book I had been reading earlier, although I leafed back a chapter or two so as not to became engrossed in it again.
***
I needed to know if Henry trusted me and saw the ideal chance when I noticed the book I was reading was shelved directly behind him. I tucked my bookmark out of sight and closed it firmly before strolling over to replace it. I saw Henry tense out of the corner of my eye and cursed as I pretended not to notice. Bloody hell, he either trusted me less than I hoped or he was just a paranoid bastard, neither was good news for my plan. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers and I knew I was running out of time, with both the minister and potentially with whoever was holding John captive. I turned and leant against the shelves. “Find anything that takes your fancy?”
“Maybe,” Henry replied, his attention turning back to the book as I had hoped.
I hesitated for a moment before approaching him to lean over and look at the book and realised I had made a mistake when he edged away from me. “I told you, you’re not my type.” I sighed and stood up again, moving away while shaking my head.
I wondered if I’d waited too long when I heard his chair scrap against the wooded flooring and turned to face him, one eyebrow raised as I considered him. “Well?”
“Tell me why I still need you?” Henry asked.
I laughed. “Because you couldn’t find your arse with both hands and a map without me.”
Henry’s face turned red and he telegraphed, I assume unintentionally, his punch. I sidestepped it easily, winced when I heard a thump and hoped he’d hit wood of the shelves rather than the books. I thought he probably had when he gave a muffled grunt of pain. All thoughts about the books was driven from my mind when he swore before coming at me again. He didn’t fight fair and I certainly saw no reason to follow the Marquess of Queensbury’s rules in our fight.
As we grappled and fought, we crashed into one of the shelving units and I dove out of the way when I felt it topple and I heard it land with a crash and a billow of dust. I scrabbled undignified to my feet, coughing on the dust and peering through the cloud for my foe. I threw my own punch at Henry, smiling when it connected and grunted when one of his slipped through my guard.
I stepped back to avoid another of his punches and felt my foot slip on something, a book I could only assume, and windmilled as I tried to regain my balance. I grunted when he charge me, falling and groaning as pain exploded in my head and I could see only stars for a moment. I peered blurringly up at Henry as he mockingly shook his head at me. “And to think I thought you were intelligent, James, but you’re just as much a fool as Barrington-Smythe.”
“You’re the bloody fool if you think you can control the anomalies. My people can’t figure it out and they’re at the top of their professions.”
It appeared I had unfortunately found a nerve as Henry snarled, “I’m not the bloody fool” at me, each word punctuated by a kick to my ribs.
I grunted and curled up, trying to protect the vulnerable parts of my body before remembering my training. I twisted to avoid his next kick and kicked my own legs out to slam into the knee of the leg he was standing on. Unfortunately, I had nowhere to move and he fell on top of me with a grunt, knocking all the breath from my lungs. In that moment of distraction, as I gasped for breath, I felt his hands close around my throat and start to choke the life from me.
I struggled with him, fighting to get his hands away from my neck but I couldn’t break his grip. I recalled through the fog slowly settling over my mind that I had a tactical pen in my pocket, Ryan’s last gift to me and one I couldn’t bring myself to dispose of. Something I was very glad of now, oh it might not seem like much but I knew exactly how effective it could be in the right hand and mine were. My fingers closed around the pen and I withdraw it from my pocket, lashing out almost blindly as my vision greyed out at the edges. I felt it sink into something and heard Henry’s agonising cry of pain, I felt something warm and sticky on my hand. I knew I’d hit Henry and twisted the pen to increase the size of the wound, knowing the shock would slow Henry down and allow me to gain my breath. I squirmed free as soon as I felt Henry’s grip relax and scrabbled away until I felt something solid behind me and lay there gasping for breath, my hand rubbing my throat.
It took me several moments, ones I wasn’t sure I had, for my vision to, well, not clear as everything was still somewhat blurry, but I could see well enough. I peered around for Henry, finding him lying on his back, his hands clasped to his face and my pen jutting from between his fingers. The sounds he was making reminded me of a wounded animal.
I gritted my teeth and forced my recalcitrant limbs to move, my head swimming and nausea roiling in my stomach. I had managed to get to my knees when I realised the keening noise had stopped. I slowly looked up to find Henry had also managed to move, my gaze flickering between the pistol pointing directly at my heart and my pen, jutting almost obscenely from the mangled remains of his left eye, blood painting his face and as I watched, a jelly-like blob of, I assumed, vitreous humour slide down his cheek.
“My eye! My fucking eye,” Henry howled. “You fucking arsehole, I’m going to carve yours out before I put a fucking bullet in you, you fucking bastard!”
My head throbbed in time to my flickering vision and I took shallow breathes as I swallowed down my need to vomit. I almost hoped he attempted to carry out his threat, then at least I’d have a chance to stop him. At least, a better chance than avoiding a bullet at this range. It took me several long seconds to realise that the flickering light wasn’t a side effect of my probably concussion but was something rather more sinister. The thought ‘Oh no, not again’ went through my mind, before I realised an anomaly might be exactly what I needed to stop Henry. After all, they attracted creatures like catnip did a cat and I doubted Henry would survive an encounter with whatever came out of this anomaly. Of course, in my present condition, I doubted I’d survive either. I found myself wondering if I would see Ryan again, before blaming that thought on the concussion.
I noticed the anomaly ripple, something I knew heralded something coming through it, and I knew I had to make sure Henry didn’t realise. Not until it was too late for him to run and that meant I had to keep his attention fixed on my for as long as possible. “You?” I made sure my voice was full of disdain. “I doubt you could shoot straight when you had two eyes.”
Henry took a step towards me, a mad gleam in his remaining eye, and I lifted my chin in defiance, holding my breath as I waited for the end.
“Time to say goodbye, James,” Henry gloated as he cocked his pistol and I stared down its barrel. I flinched at the gunshot, waiting for the pain which never came and blinked as I watched Henry collapse to his knees, his mouth opening and closing silently before he fell to the floor with a thump.
“James!”
I tore my eyes from Henry and just gaped at the figure standing in front of the anomaly. I blame shock and blood loss, possibly the concussion I was sure I had, for that. My mind scrambled to comprehend what I was seeing and I shook my head, wincing as pain shot through my brain, and knew what I was seeing was impossible. I gave a wry smile as I enquired blandly, “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” Although I couldn’t say why I believed a hallucination would answer me… and maybe that was the madness talking.
“Please don’t, James,” the apparition said, kneeling beside him. His hand felt so real as he caressed my cheek. “You know it takes far too bloody long to break in a new boss.”
I laughed, well, choked up a somewhat hysteric sound, as the ghost of my lover threw my own words back at me. Words I had uttered and then he’d left me alone. I couldn’t take it and let my eyes drift closed, content to allow this memory to hold me close, to feel him press kisses to my hair, and hope reality didn’t shatter me when I woke.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Epilogue)
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 2643 out of ~7270
Characters: James Lester, Godfrey Barrington-Smythe, The Minister (OC), Daphne Barrington-Smythe (OC), Henry Jones (OC) and plus one. (Past Lester/Ryan).
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: Secret Santa for Eriah211. Prompts: 1) Mayhem in a library, 2) “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” (Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), 3) "Oh no, not again." (actually a quote by Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy too), 4) “The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short and the pen is very sharp.” (Terry Pratchett quote). Not sure how many I’ve hit or side-swiped. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you enjoy this fic.
A/N 2: Thanks go to fredbassett for the beta, cheers m’dear. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Epilogue)
I hadn’t expected that response and, well, it opened up new options, so I merely quirked an eyebrow at him.
Henry nodded, the smile on his face telling me he’d drawn the conclusion I wanted. “You’re already stealing from the past, aren’t you?”
“James!” The minister’s voice was full of censor, except he wasn’t the one I wanted to convince.
“Oh, shut up!” I snarled at the idiot, partly because he should have known me better and partly because he really was getting on my nerves. “You really are a bloody fool, aren’t you?” I really hoped my plan worked, otherwise, from the look on Godfrey’s face, I’d be lucky to just be fired.
Henry, however, just chuckled. “So, James. Just think what we could do together. We could take anything we wanted.”
“Why would I need you for that?” I enquired blandly, curious to see Henry’s response.
Henry frowned, obviously not expecting that response. “From what I hear, most of your people are academics, I doubt they have good fences.”
I shrugged, it wouldn’t do to have Henry think the entire ARC was corrupt, rumours would have spread if it had been. Too many odd finds would have been ‘discovered’. No, I had to let him think it was small scale, only myself and a select few others involved, maybe only myself and Ryan. “I get by.”
Henry smiled. “I have contacts you don’t, James. Just think of all that’s out there, just waiting for someone to take it. Gold and diamonds. Anything we could want.” His face took on a rather disgusting leer before he continued, “And then there’s the hunting.
“Hunting?” I echoed, feeling somewhat queasy. I might not like the creatures, messy and smelly beasts that they were, but I would never advocate their slaughter. It was one of the things I actually agreed on with Cutter, not that I would ever tell him that.
Henry chuckled. “So, how about it, James? More money than you’d ever get whoring yourself to the government. More respect than this idiot gives you. Any man you could want as a lover...”
I swallowed hard at the reminder of Ryan, turning away from both other men, letting Henry think I was cracking. “Any...” My voice broke without any acting from me.
“Anyone,” Henry tempted, obviously scenting blood. “Even that dead lover of yours...”
My shoulders shook as I felt the pain of Ryan’s lost rip through my heart once more. I would have given anything to have Ryan beside me once more, but… For a man who claimed to know me, Henry knew nothing about me. For all that I clashed with Cutter, I did agree with him when it came to messing with time. Who knew what apocalypse might occur if one did?
“No, James.” The minister looked distraught, clearly believing I really would betray him for money and Ryan. Bloody fool for not trusting me in the first place… although considering he was a bloody awful actor, maybe it was for the best, after all.
“I thought I told you to shut up,” I snarled at him before turning back to Henry. “Why should I believe you?”
Henry glanced at the minister in contempt. “Why don’t we discuss this… business arrangement in private and I’ll tell you why.”
“James!”
“Sit down and shut up,” Henry pushed the minister into a chair. “Stay here if you want your son back.”
The minister paled and I couldn’t have him thinking I had betrayed him. Who knew what irrational action he might take and ruin my plan. “You always tell me I should discuss the situation and make a compromise, minister,” I reminded him, hoping he’d recall I had never once compromised any of my projects.
***
Even after my warning and cloaked promise to the minister, I knew I had only a limited window before he grew some and did something stupid. Not that I could act instantly, I would have to wait for the opportune moment before I could take Henry down and, hopefully alive, rescue John. Unfortunately, Henry was not a trusting man and he kept me in his line of sight at all times, I knew I would need a distraction and smiled to myself as I change course and led him into the library. My gaze darted around as I looked for weapons, I knew the chairs were too heavy and the sword on the wall was stuck solid. I really didn’t want to resort to throwing books at him, not only would Daphne be displeased, they really were valuable.
“Why are we here?” Henry asked suspiciously as he glanced around.
“Two reasons,” I informed him in an almost absentmindedly tone as I continued my perusal of the library. “One, it is less of an eyesore than any room except my bedroom and I’m not taking you there.”
“Good,” Henry muttered.
I almost snorted at the distaste in that one word. “You’re not my type, either,” I informed him in my most disdainful tone, curiously to see if he apologised or just brazened it out.
Henry shot me a look and then turned back to business, money obviously triumphed over anything else. “And the second?”
“Because it is the library.”
“And?” Henry prompted.
“With books,” I continued.
“And?”
Henry still didn’t see where I was going and I bit back a sigh at his ignorance, useful though it might turn out. Instead I ignored him and searched the shelves for a book which might serve to distract him. I smiled as I pulled out a copy of ‘The History of the World’ by Andrew Marr and held it out to him. “Here, take this.”
“Why would I want something written by some journo?”
I allowed my eyeballs to roll before allowing my snark free reign, being nice at this point would just set alarm bells off. “Because it is a good primer into historical eras and will help you… us,” I corrected myself as if I had misspoke, “decide what time period might be.. interesting to us. Ones we can investigate in more detail.” When he snorted at the thought of research, I added, “Where the gold and diamonds, as you put it, can be found...”
Henry frowned before grabbing the book roughly and sitting down. I fought the urge to wince at his handling of a book and the urge to act right now, knowing I needed him to relax his guard first. To that end I picked up the book I had been reading earlier, although I leafed back a chapter or two so as not to became engrossed in it again.
***
I needed to know if Henry trusted me and saw the ideal chance when I noticed the book I was reading was shelved directly behind him. I tucked my bookmark out of sight and closed it firmly before strolling over to replace it. I saw Henry tense out of the corner of my eye and cursed as I pretended not to notice. Bloody hell, he either trusted me less than I hoped or he was just a paranoid bastard, neither was good news for my plan. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers and I knew I was running out of time, with both the minister and potentially with whoever was holding John captive. I turned and leant against the shelves. “Find anything that takes your fancy?”
“Maybe,” Henry replied, his attention turning back to the book as I had hoped.
I hesitated for a moment before approaching him to lean over and look at the book and realised I had made a mistake when he edged away from me. “I told you, you’re not my type.” I sighed and stood up again, moving away while shaking my head.
I wondered if I’d waited too long when I heard his chair scrap against the wooded flooring and turned to face him, one eyebrow raised as I considered him. “Well?”
“Tell me why I still need you?” Henry asked.
I laughed. “Because you couldn’t find your arse with both hands and a map without me.”
Henry’s face turned red and he telegraphed, I assume unintentionally, his punch. I sidestepped it easily, winced when I heard a thump and hoped he’d hit wood of the shelves rather than the books. I thought he probably had when he gave a muffled grunt of pain. All thoughts about the books was driven from my mind when he swore before coming at me again. He didn’t fight fair and I certainly saw no reason to follow the Marquess of Queensbury’s rules in our fight.
As we grappled and fought, we crashed into one of the shelving units and I dove out of the way when I felt it topple and I heard it land with a crash and a billow of dust. I scrabbled undignified to my feet, coughing on the dust and peering through the cloud for my foe. I threw my own punch at Henry, smiling when it connected and grunted when one of his slipped through my guard.
I stepped back to avoid another of his punches and felt my foot slip on something, a book I could only assume, and windmilled as I tried to regain my balance. I grunted when he charge me, falling and groaning as pain exploded in my head and I could see only stars for a moment. I peered blurringly up at Henry as he mockingly shook his head at me. “And to think I thought you were intelligent, James, but you’re just as much a fool as Barrington-Smythe.”
“You’re the bloody fool if you think you can control the anomalies. My people can’t figure it out and they’re at the top of their professions.”
It appeared I had unfortunately found a nerve as Henry snarled, “I’m not the bloody fool” at me, each word punctuated by a kick to my ribs.
I grunted and curled up, trying to protect the vulnerable parts of my body before remembering my training. I twisted to avoid his next kick and kicked my own legs out to slam into the knee of the leg he was standing on. Unfortunately, I had nowhere to move and he fell on top of me with a grunt, knocking all the breath from my lungs. In that moment of distraction, as I gasped for breath, I felt his hands close around my throat and start to choke the life from me.
I struggled with him, fighting to get his hands away from my neck but I couldn’t break his grip. I recalled through the fog slowly settling over my mind that I had a tactical pen in my pocket, Ryan’s last gift to me and one I couldn’t bring myself to dispose of. Something I was very glad of now, oh it might not seem like much but I knew exactly how effective it could be in the right hand and mine were. My fingers closed around the pen and I withdraw it from my pocket, lashing out almost blindly as my vision greyed out at the edges. I felt it sink into something and heard Henry’s agonising cry of pain, I felt something warm and sticky on my hand. I knew I’d hit Henry and twisted the pen to increase the size of the wound, knowing the shock would slow Henry down and allow me to gain my breath. I squirmed free as soon as I felt Henry’s grip relax and scrabbled away until I felt something solid behind me and lay there gasping for breath, my hand rubbing my throat.
It took me several moments, ones I wasn’t sure I had, for my vision to, well, not clear as everything was still somewhat blurry, but I could see well enough. I peered around for Henry, finding him lying on his back, his hands clasped to his face and my pen jutting from between his fingers. The sounds he was making reminded me of a wounded animal.
I gritted my teeth and forced my recalcitrant limbs to move, my head swimming and nausea roiling in my stomach. I had managed to get to my knees when I realised the keening noise had stopped. I slowly looked up to find Henry had also managed to move, my gaze flickering between the pistol pointing directly at my heart and my pen, jutting almost obscenely from the mangled remains of his left eye, blood painting his face and as I watched, a jelly-like blob of, I assumed, vitreous humour slide down his cheek.
“My eye! My fucking eye,” Henry howled. “You fucking arsehole, I’m going to carve yours out before I put a fucking bullet in you, you fucking bastard!”
My head throbbed in time to my flickering vision and I took shallow breathes as I swallowed down my need to vomit. I almost hoped he attempted to carry out his threat, then at least I’d have a chance to stop him. At least, a better chance than avoiding a bullet at this range. It took me several long seconds to realise that the flickering light wasn’t a side effect of my probably concussion but was something rather more sinister. The thought ‘Oh no, not again’ went through my mind, before I realised an anomaly might be exactly what I needed to stop Henry. After all, they attracted creatures like catnip did a cat and I doubted Henry would survive an encounter with whatever came out of this anomaly. Of course, in my present condition, I doubted I’d survive either. I found myself wondering if I would see Ryan again, before blaming that thought on the concussion.
I noticed the anomaly ripple, something I knew heralded something coming through it, and I knew I had to make sure Henry didn’t realise. Not until it was too late for him to run and that meant I had to keep his attention fixed on my for as long as possible. “You?” I made sure my voice was full of disdain. “I doubt you could shoot straight when you had two eyes.”
Henry took a step towards me, a mad gleam in his remaining eye, and I lifted my chin in defiance, holding my breath as I waited for the end.
“Time to say goodbye, James,” Henry gloated as he cocked his pistol and I stared down its barrel. I flinched at the gunshot, waiting for the pain which never came and blinked as I watched Henry collapse to his knees, his mouth opening and closing silently before he fell to the floor with a thump.
“James!”
I tore my eyes from Henry and just gaped at the figure standing in front of the anomaly. I blame shock and blood loss, possibly the concussion I was sure I had, for that. My mind scrambled to comprehend what I was seeing and I shook my head, wincing as pain shot through my brain, and knew what I was seeing was impossible. I gave a wry smile as I enquired blandly, “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” Although I couldn’t say why I believed a hallucination would answer me… and maybe that was the madness talking.
“Please don’t, James,” the apparition said, kneeling beside him. His hand felt so real as he caressed my cheek. “You know it takes far too bloody long to break in a new boss.”
I laughed, well, choked up a somewhat hysteric sound, as the ghost of my lover threw my own words back at me. Words I had uttered and then he’d left me alone. I couldn’t take it and let my eyes drift closed, content to allow this memory to hold me close, to feel him press kisses to my hair, and hope reality didn’t shatter me when I woke.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Epilogue)